Australian police say 16-year-old jumped from her jetski to swim after possible dolphin sighting nearby
A teenage girl has been killed in a suspected shark attack in Western Australia after she jumped from her jetski into a river, police said.
The 16-year-old was pulled from the Swan River in Perth with critical injuries. Emergency personnel provided medical assistance at the scene but she died, said Insp Paul Robinson, of Western Australia police.
Continue reading...Coin-sized radioactive device, missing for more than two weeks in WA, posed a significant public health risk
A tiny radioactive capsule that was lost in the Australian outback for more than two weeks and posed a “significant public health risk” has been found by the side of the road.
The 8mm by 6mm capsule, which fell from a secure device on a truck that was travelling from a Rio Tinto mine site in the Pilbara region of Western Australia to Perth, was found south of the town of Newman.
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The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, also spoke to ABC Radio this morning about how the government is balancing the budget with record high inflation, and all signs pointing to another rate hike from the RBA next week.
Gallagher says there will be mortgage pain for over a fifth of mortgage holders:
We’re expecting about 20% of mortgage holders to come off fixed rate loans this year.
We always said 2023 was going to be challenging year … Dealing with the inflation challenge is a key economic priority for the government.
What you’ll see is a continued focus on cost-of-living relief, funding those priority areas like health and aged care and making sure we’re getting the balance right in terms of spending restraint, banking upgrades and looking for sensible savings where we can.
There’s no doubt that migrants have been key to the formation of modern Australia.
I think [migrants] should be recognised for their contribution to this country. And I think that’s fair enough, but that’s not minimising the Indigenous.
Continue reading...Authorities have conceded the capsule of highly radioactive material may never be found after disappearing on a 1,400km journey
A tiny, potentially deadly, radioactive capsule that has been missing for more than two weeks somewhere in the vastness of Western Australia might never be found, authorities have conceded.
On Sunday, Western Australia’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services (Dfes) revealed it was bringing in new radiation detection equipment that could be fitted to vehicles – superseding handheld sensors – to help locate the capsule somewhere along the 1,400km journey from which it originally disappeared.
Continue reading...Fire and Emergency Services official says capsule left Rio Tinto mine site on 10 January but was not found missing for 15 days
Western Australian authorities are scrambling to find a missing radioactive capsule that is a fraction of the size of a 10c coin, conceding it was not found missing until more than two weeks after it left a Rio Tinto mine site.
The 8mm by 6mm capsule is a 19-becquerel caesium 137 ceramic source, commonly used in radiation gauges, and was supposed to be contained in a secure device which had been “damaged” on a truck which travelled from the mine site north of Newman in the Pilbara to a depot in Perth.
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Continue reading...Perrottet promises easier access to housing for domestic violence victims
NSW domestic violence victims will have easier access to housing through concessions on stamp duty and rental bond loans if the Perrottet government is re-elected, AAP reports.
Continue reading...Hazardous material experts searching for 8mm by 6mm capsule believed to have fallen from truck as it was travelling from Pilbara to Perth
A tiny radioactive capsule with the potential to cause skin burns has gone missing as it was transported from a mine in Western Australia.
Hazardous material experts are searching for the 8mm by 6mm capsule, which is believed to have fallen from a truck as it was travelling the 1,400km between a mine site north of Newman in the Pilbara and a depot in Perth.
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Continue reading...Lawyers for the Liberal senator threaten to take case to WA supreme court as they pursue an apology and damages over tweets
The Liberal senator Linda Reynolds has sent a formal defamation complaint to David Sharaz, the partner of former government staffer Brittany Higgins, over tweets her lawyers claim caused damage that “cannot be underestimated”.
Lawyers for the Reynolds have threatened to take the case to Western Australia’s supreme court as they pursue an apology and damages from the journalist, claiming he made “inaccurate and professionally damaging” criticisms of her online.
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Should governments have acted sooner on alcohol restrictions in Alice Springs?
The Northern Territory chief minister Natasha Fyles and the minister for Indigenous affairs Linda Burney have appeared on ABC Radio after the announcements in Alice Springs yesterday.
It was the previous coalition government that walked away and left the Northern Territory with no measures.
I had expressed that there needs to be some very, very real thoughts put into our alcohol restrictions.
Do you think it took too long?
Look, I’m not going to get into whether they’ve taken too long, If you ask the people in Alice Springs, the answer might be yes.
I went to Stuart Park last night and met with local people living in town camps ... many of who had obviously experienced violence. And one of the things that really shocked me is, I was talking to the local member Marion Scrymgour who had visited the hospital and there are 16 beds in ICU, 14 of those were taken by Aboriginal women who had been beaten ... I think alcohol is one of the major contributors to some of the problems.
It’s about balance – but being able to drink is not more important than being safe, in my view.
Continue reading...Prime minister holds talks with Microsoft founder on climate change, energy and health. This blog is now closed
AAP reports that NSW Labor says it will consult on a treaty with the state’s Aboriginal communities if it wins the state election in March.
The party would spend $5m on a year-long consultation process as part of a move towards a more formal treaty process.
If we want to realise improved justice, education, health and cultural outcomes for First Nations people, we must place First Nations communities at the centre of decision making.
Continue reading...People in social housing often face hottest conditions and struggle to pay for air conditioning, advocates say
Advocates are calling for insulation to be regulated in all Australian rental properties as research shows some people swelter through temperatures above 30C in their homes for extended periods in summer.
Many of the hottest homes are those of people living in social housing, with some residents forced to go into debt to buy air conditioners, or hose down their houses to stay cool.
Continue reading...Girl, first detained at 13, suffered ‘extremely traumatic’ restraining with handcuffs, leg shackles and spit hoods, court document claims
An autistic teenage girl detained at Banksia Hill Detention Centre was forced to use underwear stained with menstrual blood and sleep on a mattress covered with “excrement and saliva”, according to a legal document filed in support of a class action against the West Australian government.
The affidavit by lawyer Stewart Levitt alleges the girl was fed meals through a grille and was forced to “earn” her bedding. She felt like she was being “treated like a dog” and responded by sleeping on the concrete floor of her cell and pretending she was a dog, the document states.
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Continue reading...Victorian premier says there will not be a state service for cardinal, out of respect for victim-survivors of institutional child sexual abuse. Follow live
Visa processing problems in spotlight
Pat Conroy acknowledged ongoing visa processing issues and said the government was “hopeful that we can get a resolution on that issue”:
People in Papua New Guinea are also very keen on our Pacific engagement visa, which is about creating 3,000 permanent migration spots each year into Australia … and there’s also lots of interest in Papua New Guineans working, studying in Australia as well.
His message around democracies is that [it is] incumbent upon politicians in both countries [to] defend democracy and we defend democracy by demonstrating it’s the best system to deliver actual benefits for the people that we govern. So that’s about investing in stronger health outcomes, lifting stronger economic outcomes.
Continue reading...Sun Cable placed in voluntary administration. Follow the day’s news live
Australian involvement in construction of Aukus submarines important, acting defence minister says
More on submarines. In an interview with ABC Radio, the veterans affairs and acting defence minister, Matt Keogh, has reaffirmed the government’s confidence it can reach its deadline of acquiring nuclear submarines by the end of the next decade.
We’re certainly alive to the concerns that were raised in that letter that those congressmen wrote, but we’ve been engaging with the Biden administration, very positively … The American government and the UK Government are as committed as the Australian government to this project and see that there is a pathway forward on how we will go about procuring these submarines.
The industrial base for all of the three countries – Australia included - is critical to achieving those outcomes and making sure that we’re able to grow the pie by bringing the Australian industrial base into those existing industrial bases is very important.
Continue reading...An estimated 100 homes are feared uninhabitable in WA communities where it’s not uncommon to have up to 20 people living in a house
Massive flooding in Western Australia may have left hundreds of people homeless, bringing the region’s pre-existing overcrowding crisis into sharp relief, local residents say.
An estimated 100 homes across the Kimberley were feared uninhabitable in the wake of ex-tropical cyclone Ellie, according to Tyronne Garstone, the chief executive of Kimberley Land Council, the peak Indigenous body in the Kimberley region. And with many people in the area living in multigenerational homes or with extended family, the extent of potential homelessness is immense, he said.
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More than 80% of council areas declared disasters in the past four years, Watt says
Murray Watt was hesitant to attribute the individual disaster in the Kimberley to climate change, unlike his colleague Chris Bowen. But he said the overall pattern of increasing disasters was “undoubtedly climate change”:
I don’t think that you can point to one particular event and say it’s due to climate change, but there is no doubt that we are seeing before our eyes is climate change happening. We know from all the scientists that we’re going to be facing more of these intense events more frequently.
I was actually advised yesterday by our agency that just in the last 12 months we’ve seen 316 of Australia’s 537 council areas disaster-declared: that’s about 60% of the council areas in the country. And if you go back four years to the black summer, 438 council areas in Australia have been disaster-declared, which is over 80%.
A lot of people aren’t aware but the wet season in northern Western Australia … generally doesn’t begin until later this month. So their wettest months actually tend to be February and March rather than starting as early as January. So to have this amount of water come through the system this early in the wet season is a concern.
Continue reading...Fitzroy River Bridge among those apparently collapsed after record flooding in state’s north destroys roads and isolates communities
Engineers will assess the destruction of major bridges on the trucking route connecting Western Australia and the Northern Territory on Wednesday amid concerns key infrastructure could could take months, or even years, to fix.
Main Roads WA and structural engineers will assess the Fitzroy River Bridge on the Great Northern Highway, as photos and videos emerge showing that the bridge has collapsed after being hit with record floods.
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Continue reading...Federal opposition leader wants Labor to legislate its preferred model before referendum is held this year. This blog is now closed
‘I’m genuinely interested in advancing the cause of reconciliation’
Peter Dutton is asked about whether the prime minister has been given a copy of his letter – Anthony Albanese has said he has not received it – and Dutton says a copy has been provided to the prime minister’s office and he expects “he will respond in due course”.
I don’t think that’s unreasonable. Certainly not racist. It’s not being opposed to reconciliation. It’s all about, frankly, just being informed about what it is they’re being asked to vote on. I don’t think that is unreasonable to ask the prime minister to provide that.
I’ve met with the prime minister and I’m grateful for the meetings that we’ve had and he knows that I’m genuinely interested in advancing the cause of reconciliation.
I’m speaking of millions of Australians, we’re asking you the reasonable questions.
Continue reading...Experts call for a multidisciplinary approach, with climate-related disasters to continue disrupting freight delivery
Western Australia’s “worst ever” flood has further highlighted the vulnerability of Australia’s supply chains, experts say.
On Saturday, record levels of water were pouring down the Fitzroy River, which had created a 50km-wide inland sea. The water across the Kimberley region had shut down parts of the crucial Great Northern Highway, damaged the bridge at Fitzroy Crossing and inundated the airstrip. And 105 people had been relocated from the region, with more expected to be airlifted out in the coming days.
Continue reading...Australian Defence Force planes now able to use the airstrip at Fitzroy Crossing as weather improves. This blog is now closed
“Bonza the bogan airline” sounds like a crap children’s book, but it’s an interesting story about another moving part in Australia’s turbulent air transport industry. Also, Elias Visontay managed to get budgie smugglers into it, making the skimpy swimwear somewhat of a sub theme on the blog today:
Waters at Menindee expected to peak
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